Three Friends
by UntiedHeartbeat
Summary: Being reborn into the world of Naruto and trying not to die is one thing, but having to deal with two knuckleheads who have no idea how to treat a lady is going over the line! [Self-insert as Ino, slow romance, SxI]
1. Chapter 1: PROLOGUE

**Naruto belongs to ****Kishimoto Masashi.**

**The idea of this fanfiction, however, is mine alone.**

**THREE FRIENDS : Prolog**

Giving birth is a tedious task. There is a lot of screaming, blood and squeezing involved.

In that single moment when you are about to give birth to another life, the mother just wants the pain to end. And the baby is clueless. You just feel constriction, something pressing down onto you, like you are squeezed out of a tube.

Not a good feeling, just saying.

The moment that suffocating feeling ceased, I was blinded by a bright light. I couldn't see, which was terrifying enough, but to add insult to injury I could feel myself being lifted up and passed around.

I wasn't screaming, maybe that is why they panicked, checking for my vital signs and passing me around like a sack of potatos?

"_Watashiniha kanojo o ataeru._" A soft voice exclaimed and the prodding and poking stopped. I couldn't understand what the gibberish meant, but it seemed that the person had authority. Next thing I know, I'm lying on something soft, warm and safe.

My former, erratic heartbeat slows. And I feel a hand on my head. Apparently being a baby meant craving for human contact, because my puny hands reached out and wrapped around the finger that poked me.

I squealed.

The person, whom I have yet to see, laughed in amusement.

Yes, laugh all you want. I want to die here. A twenty year old university student _squealing_? You don't see that every day. If my friends could see me now, they would laugh their butts off and would hold this moment over my head for another twenty years.

I soon noticed nervous shuffling next to me and tried turning to the noise. Of course being a baby and all, my monitoring skills have yet to be developed and I flailed around.

"_I desu ka_?"

A deep voice inquired.

It rumbled and made me feel all squeezy inside. I could feel the person holding me nod to that question and felt myself being picked up again. But this time, someone strong held me against their chest.

Obviously, a male. He had a strong metallic stench but also reeked of bamboo and leaves. His unique smell didn't bother me, infact it soothed me.

And when he laughed after seeing me blow a raspberry, I couldn't stop smiling and squealing.

What can I say? I was a pretty, happy baby.

* * *

><p>Being one year old was not fun. You couldn't do anything, you just had to wait for someone to pick you up and do it for you after you've screamed your lungs out.<p>

And, for me specifically, that was hell.

I was always proud of my independency. Even as a small child, I did everything without help. I knew how to cook when I turned seven. My previous mother had no idea how to prepare breakfast and searching for approval, I had decided to start cooking. And, really, I did not want my mother to hurt herself. She had been really clumsy.

That's why this situation perplexed me. Even more so, when I found out how my parents looked like.

It did not take long for me to starting seeing. First it were just blurs and colours, but next thing I know my eye- sight adjusted and the world changed.

I noticed that my mother was beautiful. She had long brown hair and soft hazel eyes. Her smile was contagious, bright and full of warmth when she picked me up and fed me. I always ignored the feeding part and pushed it into the back of my mind. I really did not want to remember that later on. That would traumatize me for sure.

"_Kanojo wa anata no yonimieru._" she said to the person standing next to her after I was full and said person seemed to agree to something with a rumble.

Feeling curious, I craned my small neck and looked at what I assumed to be my father. And at first I didn't understand why he appeared so familiar. He had long, shaggy blonde hair and strange blue-greenish eyes.

His face was filled with laugh lines and his eyes twinkled when I met his gaze head-on. In the background, I could hear mother say something again, but did not really listen as I observed the man infront of me.

Unintentionally, my hand reached out after he had bend over my head and wrapped around the blonde strand of hair that had been tickling me. I did not yank, I simply played with it, blowing another raspberry because I felt like it.

He seemed to shake with laugther and patted my head softly.

When I looked at him again and suddenly realized why he seemed so familiar, my eyes widened.

And I almost screamed.

The man infront of me was Yamanaka Inoichi, captain of the Intel unit, and a part of the infamous Ino-Shika-Cho trio. He was a smart shinobi and a character out of a manga that I completely and _utterly_ adored. Someone who could easily see when something was wrong with his child.

And there was definitely something wrong.

I shuddered and swallowed the wail that threatened to burst through, because crying after seeing your father's face would raise suspicions.

_Still_, I thought as he picked me up and poked my nose lovingly ,

_I was so going to die._

* * *

><p><strong>Ta-dah! This is the prolog of my story! I hope you liked it and do not feel offended by the japanese. Google translate helps but more than often wrecks sentences. So, please have mercy. Still constructive criticism is always wished-for! (^_^) **


	2. Chapter 2: INO-SHIKA-CHOU

**Warning: Spoilers, do not read if you are not at the end of the manga.**

**THREE FRIENDS**

**Chapter 1 : Ino-Shika-Cho**

After I had noticed that I was in the world of Naruto, it did not take long for me to find out my name, because my parents used it a lot. I was barely **two** years old and already a trouble-maker. Just because I was sleeping in my crib, did not mean you can leave me unsupervised.

The first time that happened, I used the pillows around me as a ladder, which took me a long time,_ mind you_, because I had no muscles whatsoever, and climbed up over the crib.

Luckily, I had squeezed a pillow through the bars beforehand because the moment I was on the edge of the crib, I lost balance and fell head- first. The pillow cushioned the fall, but it hurt nonetheless.

And because I was a baby and couldn't control my emotions, I wailed.

It did not take long for mother to run into the room and freeze when she saw me looking at her, sniffling from where I was sitting. She initially sweatdropped- that can _actually_ happen when you're in an anime. It had me in awe for a second, mouth shaped in an 'o', before I noticed that the suprise in my mother's eyes changed to anger.

"..no!" she huffed angrily, hands on her hips.

I just blinked innocently, blowing a raspberry. Damn, those were additictive.

She picked me up and stomped to the kitchen. Father was sitting at the table, reading the newspaper, which I did not know existed in the ninja world. But there were so many things they did not show in the anime or manga. But right now, that was the least of my trouble.

Mother was huffing and puffing, obviously complaining about my stunt with big hand gestures while she had me pinned to her hip. Inoichi simply listened patiently as he sipped on his tea. He had always been the calmer of the two.

When she was finished her face was flushed and red in anger. I could feel Inoichi's heavy gaze on me and looked at him defiantly as if saying '_what 'chu looking at_'. He apparently liked my cheek and threw his head back, laughing heartily.

Mother immediately hit him on the back of his head, referring to him as a 'baka' as she blushed.

That bright moment made my heart swell, and for the first time, I wondered if this is what it means to be a family. The suffocating feeling in my chest intensified each second, making it hard to breath. But it was a good feeling nonetheless.

I _loved_ them, I realized.

And squealed when father broke out in boisterous laugther for a second time, clapping my hands together in amusement.

"_Amai chisana, Ino!_" (Sweet, little, Ino!)

I froze, then, and blinked. Ino? What? That can't be.

I swallowed a scream and instead coughed after my spit went into the wrong throat. Of course that dimmed the mood and both of my parents were fussing over me, checking for injuries.

'_Ino_', I thought in shock ignoring the hands poking me in worry, _this has to be a joke_.

I was not just another minor character, I was born as one of the protagonists!

* * *

><p>After my epiphany, I couldn't help but think about the events that would start with the Chunin exams. That's when everything went wrong. I finally realized that I couldn't just ignore everything. I was Ino, for god's sake, I would eventually get <em>dragged<em> into the plot.

There was no escape and no time for laziness.

I grumbled from where I was sitting -it was the lap of Inoichi- and could feel his hand absently playing with my gold locks. He was looking over some documents, fully immersed in his task, and did not notice the change in my mood.

Which I was grateful for, because normal babies did not _brood_.

I flailed a bit and leaned my head against his stomach. He continued patting my head, which_ soothed_ me, but did not let my worries vanish.

Truth be told, I have a bit of a hero complex.

And this is not a _good_ thing, really. I'm actually mad at myself for being so reckless. I just can't help myself.

For example, I once saw an old woman that couldn't cross the streets because she was too slow and the cars wouldn't stop for her. So, ask yourself, what would a _normal_ human being do?

Help her over the streets, of course.

But me being me, I stomped into the middle of the streets, stretched my arms out and waited for the cars to stop. Which they thankfully did otherwise I would have died sooner. The old woman had been looking at me in shock and went over the streets, muttering under her breath about 'insane teenagers'. I had grimaced and immediately regretted my actions, but held my stance until she had crossed the streets.

So, do you get it now?

I would feel guilty if I let the Uchiha massacre occur. I would hate for my father to die, not only because he grew on me( which really did not take long), no, because I knew when and how he would die.

And Neji, he wasn't even my favourite character, I didn't even know him personally, but I would feel incredibly guilty and sad if he died.

I don't want anyone to die.

Even more so, because now they were not simply characters. They were real persons. Just like me. Even though that is still hard to comprehend.

So, I needed to train eventually. But, then again, I was physically two years old. No parent in their right mind would train their baby this early. Well, except the Uchiha's. But they had always been an exception.

I frowned and grumbled again, but this time Inoichi noticed and looked away from his papers , poking my cheek with one finger. I blew angry raspberries, yes those _existed, _and tried to cross my arms.

I hit myself in the face and sniffed.

Father's torso trembled and I stared up at him angrily ,whilst he tried to hold down his laughter, and sniffed again when a small snort_ did_ escape his lips.

* * *

><p>The next <strong>two<strong> years went by in a breeze. Nothing important happened. I had yet to start my training.

I was four, could walk now and talk a few words. And I had been potty trained, which was a huge change from the diapers. Because now , I did not have to feel embarrassed everytime I had to go pee.

Which made me incredibly happy.

I was even happier,_ estatic_ even, when they let me out into the backyard.

I squealed and rolled around to show them how grateful I was because doing nothing all day was _exhausting_. The thing is, it had taken mother hours of hard work to put my hair into two pony tails. And I was wearing a white one piece with pumpkin bloomers. I could pratically feel her anger roll off in waves from where I was lying.

However, that did not stop me from jumping and rolling around.

Yes, I was a bratty child. And _spoiled_. And incredibly jealous.

I noticed that when Shikakku and Chouza eventually appeared in the middle of the day with both of their children in tow. Their arrival startled me and I did not try to hide it, hiding things would make anyone suspicious. But, in a way, it was to be expected. Those three were inseparable and manipulative. They already tried to form another Ino-Shika-Chou team, even though we were only four years old.

All three of them had been laughing and hugging their counterparts in greeting from where they were standing, while I was giving them the stink eye. The atmosphere couldn't have been better.

Back to the point, Shikamaru, whom I did not notice before, reluctantly left his father's side who urged him to do so and leaned against the big tree in our yard to take a nap. Choji had followed him obediently with his crackers and took the space next to him.

And I had been staring at them in wonder and awe until I realized that he was sitting against _my_ tree in _my_ garden. This was the first time I was allowed out and he had already taken what could have been my future nap place from me.

Feeling a huge amount of jealousy out of nowhere bubbling in the pit of my stomach, I huffed, tried to crack my fingers, which apparently looked pretty harmless judging by the snort that came from behind me, bend my knees and ran.

With my arms wide open and a nasty grin of my face, I glomped the lazy pineapple and crushed him under my weight.

He let out a startled yell and tried to escape from my grip, but I had already latched onto him, arms clutched around his neck and feet wrapped around his torso. I could feel eyes on us but ignored them easily.

"You.." He spluttered, ears red as a tomato as I flashed him a toothy grin.

" 'm Ino."

* * *

><p>Inoichi had been watching from the sidelines with his two friends on his sides and couldn't help but chuckle at his daugther's antics. She had always been a little firecracker, getting into trouble when no one was watching. And sometimes she would brood. And he would wonder if she was really a normal child and not a prodigy.<p>

But seeing her open up so easily relieved him. He didn't need to worry, then.

"Your daughter is incredible agile for her age."

He looked at Shikkaku and agreed with a nod.

"And apparently already in love with our boys." Chouza added facetiously without making eye-contact and forced the two to look into the same direction.

Inoichi sweatdropped when he saw his daughter reprimand a yawning Shikamaru and yank a quiet Choji closer with his scarf.

* * *

><p>"'u understand? Tis is my 'ree! " I said a second time after my awesome introduction, hands propped against my hips.<p>

Shikamaru did not seem to be impressed, looking at me with only one eye squinted open, while Choji continued to munch on his crackers quietly. A tick mark appeared on the top of my head and I snatched the edge of Choji's scarf, dragging him closer.

This seemed to get a reaction out of Shikamaru.

"The tree can't belong to you." he drawled and covered his mouth as another yawn burst through his lips.

I pursed my lips for a moment, and eyed him cautiously. He was essentially the same age as Ino, but the real me was twenty- four years old. Then, someone please tell me how a four year old can talk that adequately. I _tried_ and couldn't form coherent sentences. While my mind might be older, my body was still young and craved for fun and adventure.

All those feelings were overwhelming, forcing even me to do things, I normally wouldn't do.

Like tackling people or rolling on the ground.

So, how can he resist?

"'u stupid." I said in my frustration and plopped down next to him, letting go of Choji's scarf in the progress.

"That's impossible." He yawned again.

I just huffed and let my head fall on his lap. If he wouldn't move then I wouldn't either. He observed me for a moment and I almost thought he would shove me off, telling me I have 'cooties' like boys usually do. He didn't. He just blinked looked at Choji who shrugged and went back to sleep.

I grinned.

This did not seem all that bad.

Having friends, that is.

* * *

><p><strong>This is a short chapter. The next one will be longer. Review! Can I get five reviews for the next chapter ? Btw, thank you for the favourites and reviews! That suprised me! ^-^<strong>


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